I have degenerative disc disease between something like my L1 and S5 vertebrae (or somewhere in my mid/lower back) which is causing sciatica. The pinaformis muscle that passes through your hip is also irritating the nerve. I went through 3 months of physical therapy which did practically nothing to help.

Right now I'm nearly pain free, even if I don't smoke, and you wanna know how I do it? Yoga and/or pilates. These two things on their own have done more to improve my health than almost anything else I've ever tried. I swear by yoga especially, though pilates really helps a lot too. When I practice these disciplines I can literally feel the nerves being soothed. It's crazy, but as the muslces and body stretches, I can literally feel the nerves trying to hurt, then they calm down and all the pain goes away.

It has been about a year since I've done either, and I can really tell the difference. I need to start again.